Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Quick spoilers for last night's "Reaper" coming up just as soon as I get rid of this cot...

Not sure what I have to say about this one, other than that I like watching Stephen McHattie (who played the original Nite-Owl in "Watchmen" and was the crazy sheriff here). Having Andi dump Sam may be understandable, but it doesn't solve the problem of her still being the show's fifth wheel. And while I was briefly amused by Sock and step-sis' sexual tension back at the beginning of the season, the joke is long since played out.

Nina continues to be a fun character -- and provide more opportunities for Rick Gonzalez to be funny -- and this was a decent iteration of the stock "our heroes get stuck in a creepy, isolated town" story, but... meh.

That was Stephen McHattie? No wonder I liked the guy playing that character so much. McHattie's a favorite of mine since his guest appearance on a DS-9 episode back in about 1998. He gave a performance that was out-of-this-world fabulous (no pun intended). Actually, all the main player in that episode did a particularly fine job.

OK, back to Reaper. Nothing else to add really because I pretty much agree with everything you said. The Soc and step sister thing has got to go. It's just creepy now.

I can't believe you didn't jump on Ray Wise saying the town was like "a David Lynch film." That's a meta-joke I can get behind!

The ideas are amusing, and I like the characters, but the plots feel like they have to force some sort of drama out of each situation. If there was SOME sense of menace or import coming from the events, it would make the show feel more substantial.

Loved the Lynch joke; my biggest problem with the ep was Andi saying Sam is getting more comfortable with being the Son of the Devil without us actually SEEING that. Especially when you compare him to his brother.

And, yeah, like most other shows the sexual tension is only fun until they consummate.

I have a question that may have been addressed in a previous thread (if so, I apologize). If the Devil is Sam's father (as the series is now telling us) how did his "Earth father" (Mr. Oliver) have the right to sell Sam's soul to the devil? If Sam is the Devil's son then Mr. Oliver doesn’t have the authority to bargain with Sam's soul. Conversely, if Mr. Oliver does have the right to sell Sam's soul, then the devil can't be his father, right?

At the end of last week's episode, when Sam's human father equivocated about his contract with the devil, I felt he was casting doubt whether the Devil was actually Sam's biological father. The Devil does lie, after all. Did anyone else pick up on that? (I'm also a little confused how even a parent can sell a soul he doesn't own.)

As for Andi, I'm getting kinda tired of her waffling every ten minutes. Last week she seemed assured Sam wasn't evil after she walked him into church, apparently ready to watch him burst into flame if he were. (Which now that I think about it, kinda makes her cold and hardcore, doesn't it? Was she actually ready to watch him burn to death standing 1 foot away?).

Some repercussions were presaged last week when Morgan-devilspawn unctuously praised her for being better at detecting evil in people than he was himself, but those suspicions needed some time to develop. The only thing Sam has done since was was NOT being able to open the wine bottle with his "Devil" powers.

And, "Devil Powers?" I missed a few episodes last season, but when did Sam ever show any Devil Powers? Was that created for this episode just so Andi could dump him again?

And I agree Sock and his sister's story has long since run out of juice. Was anyone else offended by Sock's rather insensitive attitude toward his sister's grounding in her own cultural background? She feels she's shamed herself and her family, and his only reaction is to want to tap her ass again as soon as possible. I know he's supposed to be a clod, but . . .

The Ben/Demon-girlfriend thing and Tony are the funniest things going on at the moment.

@ EDD: I've always figured that Sam's parents could sell his soul to the devil because he was a minor. I mean, I know it's silly to apply modern day U.S. contract law to something like this, but it's all I've got.

The snag in using the father is that while he can't die, his body can be damaged. He already risks decomposition, and what would likely happen is if he was injured he could end up being a body-less head.

As opposed to the actual deal, what I want to know is why hasn't Sam asked what happenes if his Dad does tell him the truth? Would the deal end and his Dad be forced to hell? Wouldn't a Dad who loved his son automatically do this...instead of commiting his son to hell in his place? Also, why not ask his mom to tell him something- she didn't make any deal, right?

@ Dave F: I seem to remember it being a deal that both parents made in order to save the dad's life. As for condemning himself to hell, any father willing to sell his son's soul in order to save his own life certainly wouldn't condemn himself to hell altruistically. :)

I seem to recall from last year that the deal was for the devil to get their first-born child and they tried to outsmart Satan by not having any children but he intervened in some way. Speaking of last week's episode, I was wondering, if Sam truly is the Devil's son, what would have happened if he had had himself baptized?

I realize that Andi's supposed to be a sweet, good person who'll keep Sam from being seduced by the dark side, but at this point she's just coming off as an annoying nag.

Meanwhile, the show keeps playing Sock's relationship with his "sister" for (well-earned) laughs, but it seems as if this unquenched desire would be the perfect opportunity for him to be seduced into doing something bad.

Yawn. I loved this show last season. But Sam's always showing the same perplexed or frustrated (hard to tell the difference) facial expression, Andi' perpetually in a snit, Sock's antics are at last overdone, and the only reasons I'm still tuning in are Ray Wise & Ben/Demon GF.

I also really like the supporting Ted's Smithering & the rebel demon adoptive dad (can't recall the character's name right now--Paul?) but they get barely enough screen time.

And, I must point out, McHattie was the grown-up Andy/Adrian in LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY'S BABY, as well my personal favorite, Rev. Glenville in HIGHCLIFF MANOR, which I would kill to have on DVD. So, it's all of a circle. Kinda.

Ok, is anyone else sick and tired of Sam just giving up all the time? "Oh I'll just see if the Devil will let this one go" ? Hasn't he given up on that by now? He's the whiniest guy ever.And Kristen? Man she gave up her virginity WAY too fast - if her culture is so important and ingrained in her - how did she make that turn around? She was much funnier when she was innocent. I loved the crazy singing last week.I think the highlight of the episode was when Nina pet that llama and told him to eat the garlic.

To Mike F: Try the earlier episodes this season. This was the low point of the season. It's still not a stellar mind-blowing show, but this season HAS been an improvement for the most part.